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Georgians for Pastured Poultry (GPP), an alliance that is promoting the use of high-welfare, pasture raised poultry in Georgia, has created Pastured Poultry Week to take place Monday, June 11 through Sunday, June 17, 2012.

As part of this annual event, Atlanta restaurants will help spread the word about the many virtues of pastured poultry – its superior taste, the natural life of the chickens, and the positive impact on both human health and the health of the environment – by serving it on their menus every day during this designated week. Additionally, chef demonstrations at local farmers markets throughout the spring and summer will educate consumers on ways to prepare pastured poultry in order to continue raising awareness.

Georgians for Pastured Poultry is made up of a multi-stakeholder group including Chef Shaun Doty of Bantam & Biddy restaurant (set to open this fall), Compassion in World Farming, Sierra Club, Georgia Organics, GreenLaw, White Oak Pastures, Darby Farms and others. The mission of this organization is to make Georgia the leader in the production and consumption of pastured poultry.

“One of our biggest challenges is that consumers today are unaware of how to use and make the most of a ‘whole bird’, which is generally how pastured poultry is sold,” says Leah Garcés, USA Director of Compassion in World Farming, the lead founding member of GPP. “During Pastured Poultry week, our chef partners are helping us inspire consumers with their cooking techniques and recipes while also showing diners why factory farmed chicken is inferior not just in taste, but also in terms of human health, animal welfare, and the environment,” she adds.

Shaun Doty will be participating in a farmers market demonstration featuring pastured poultry at Morningside Farmers Market on Saturday, June 16 at 9:30 a.m.

Doty, who will be opening a new local free range and pastured poultry restaurant in September, plans to ensure that his guests know where there chicken was raised and is highly involved in informing consumers, businesses and government about the true costs of factory farming of meat chickens and the need to support more humane and sustainable alternatives.

“My guests are more and more interested in where their food comes from, and as a chef, I am extremely passionate about food traceability,” says Doty.

Will Harris, owner of White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, GA, is generously donating pastured chickens to chefs who will be making a pastured poultry dish during their upcoming farmers market cooking demonstrations.

“Industrial commodity livestock production lowers the costs of meat production systems by raising animals in such a way that does not allow them to express their instinctive behaviors,” explains Harris, a fourth-generation stockman whose farm is the largest USDA Certified Organic farm in Georgia and whose abattoirs are certified humane by four unique animal welfare organizations. “It is unfortunate that nearly 100% of the poultry that is available to Georgians is raised in these low animal welfare systems. These industrial operations also produce enormous volumes of waste that can lead to food borne illnesses and environmental challenges. This is all the more reason that we need to promote humane and sustainable alternatives.”